Back to the Pool

Workout of the Day:

AM - WOD 1:

Swim ½ mile

PM – WOD 2:

Clean and Jerk 3, 3, 3, 3

Snatch Balance 3, 3, 3, 3

Today was my first day back in the pool since February in Paris and I was a tad nervous. Turned out to not be so bad after all. I managed to get through 400 meters without stopping, then took a brief break before changing strokes (did 100 meters of backstroke and 100 meters of breaststroke to break it up). The last 200 meters of freestyle was pretty sloppy. Still, most of the fatigue was muscular and not cardio-vascular so that is a promising sign. Once my body remembers how to be efficient in the water I think I should be okay. Actually, the kicking motion is going to be therapeutic for my STILL recovering ankles. Bonus.

The afternoon session had a little extra motivation behind it after following the Northeast Regionals this past weekend. I’d never done a true 3RM for clean and jerk and was curious what I could manage. After warming up, I opened at 80 kg for the first set. Things felt good, so I went to 100 kg for the 2^nd. A little shaky on the third repetition as I let my feet split too wide on the catch. This is still a nagging technical issue I have. The 3^rd set I did at 105 kg. Had trouble with the wide split on the second rep, but not the third. All the jerks felt easy. The final set was at 110 kg and I wasn’t sure I’d be able to get it or not. Turned out I could. The last clean wasn’t my prettiest, but it came up. Again, no problem with the jerks.

Transitioning to snatch balances felt a little awkward at first, but then actually really good. My sets were 80 kg, 90 kg, 100 kg, and 110 kg. Probably the best I’ve ever felt doing this exercise. I missed the final set, losing my balance during the second repetition, but the weight didn’t feel overpowering at all. I really think that doing these more often will vastly improve my ability to get under heavy weights.

I’ve attached a clip of the 110 kg c&j.